Right out of Farmer to Farmer, straight ahead is the Agricultural Trades Show, held at the Augusta Civic Center from Tuesday, January 13 to Thursday, January 15, 1998. For over 20 years we’ve used this as a place to learn from one another and reach out to the rest of Maine’s agricultural community.

On Tuesday, January 13, we have a full series of workshops from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with topics such as “Having an Apprentice on Your Farm,” “Making Connections with Grain Growers” and “Garden Scale Weed Control” already in the planning stages.

Tuesday is also MOFGA’s annual meeting, beginning at 3:30. We have brief reports on the year behind, a look at the year ahead, and elections of officers and Board members.

All MOFGA members are encouraged to attend. We’ll have more details in a newsletter around Christmas.

Nominations

MOFGA is an organization that thrives on involvement by its members. The new Nominations Committee is: CR Lawn, Bob Sewall, Paul Bernacky and Russell Libby (ex officio). Contact any of them if you want to be involved in the Board or would be interested in participating in any MOFGA committees. A few Board slots are opening for the year ahead.

Organic Dairy Farmers Plan Winter Meetings

In late October, most of Maine’s organic dairy farmers gathered in Vassalboro to hear a session on livestock health with Dr. Marta Engel, a veterinarian from Wisconsin who uses homeopathy in her practice. Her visit was sponsored by CROPP (Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool). During the lunch break the discussions were as intense as during the session itself.

The dairy farmers agreed that they need to meet regularly to keep informed about production practices and other issues. We’ve tentatively set aside the second Tuesday of each month, starting in December, as a time when organic dairy farmers (and other interested livestock producers) can get together.

We’ll meet at 11:00 for an hour of program, and finish with lunch and roundtable discussions. Please call the MOFGA office if you want to be on the list for agenda and locations.